May Run

[VanHarlan]

There were a group of Porsches flying south . . . can't remember what time, or where exactly . . . I was in a room in the back, lower part of the Colonial Inn last night . . . I left at 6:00 am this morning and ran up 16 and over to Crawford Notch, Bear Notch, back down the Kanc . . . and then down to North Adams Mass to the summit of Mount Greylock and then home to Rochester NY by 7:00 pm . . . saw quite a few bikes heading towards Conway . . . had to be one heck of an Open House at White Horse.

 

[Canadian FJR]

For whatever reason I am still not able to post pics on this site but here are a few that I posted over at Ride Atlantic.

https://www.rideatlantic.ca/yaf_postst14_Whitehorse-Press-Open-House.aspx

I can't believe how nice the weather was down there. -4 here last night.

Canadian FJR

 

[Fred W]

Photo assist:

Looks like Barley made it again! They are from Vermont.

 

[Canadian FJR]

Thanks Fred.

Canadian FJR

 

[08FJR4ME]

Looks like it's worth the trip just to check out the bikes. Wish I coulda made it. You folks gotta give me more of a heads up next time.

Dave,

 

[Canadian FJR]

Go back to post 78 back in February.

I'll give you a heads up that this will be a yearly event. Great way to start the riding season off.

Canadian FJR

 

[Canadian FJR]

That time of year again, heading out on May 15th and spending the first night in the Portland, Maine area. Friday is play day, similar route as in previous years. Spending both Friday & Saturdy nights at the Colonial Motel. https://www.thecolonialmotel.com/ Saturday morning we'll head over to the Open House and get out for another short ride in the afternoon. Heading back towards Nova Scotia on Sunday morning. I hope that the weather is better than what have been seeing here.

Canadian FJR

 

[MEM]

I got stuck with an Evening Call shift on Friday and since it's a long weekend, there's not a snowball's chance in hell of getting rid of it

Safe ride, Scott. And don't do anything I wouldn't do :thumbsup:

 

[Iris]

Jim and I are considering a ride to Whitehorse this same weekend too.

As of yet, we have not made reservations yet.

 

[Canadian FJR]

Not sure where we'll end up on Thursday night but will be at the Colonial Inn for Friday night and off to the open house on Saturday morning. Be sure to swing by and say hi.

Saturday night plans are kind of up in the air.

Canadian FJR

 

[RossKean]

I was thinking about trying to get there this year. Long range forecast doesn't look very good. If its cold and rainy, I'll probably wait for a better weekend and miss the festivities. I'll keep an eye on the weather for the next few days.

 

[ionbeam]

The 'beams will probably make the ride to White Horse too. Waiting to see who is coming on what day to firm up plans. Need pants! But, probably will find lots of other things that I 'need' too.

 

[Fred W]

Yep, I'm watching the weather for next weekend too. Here's a little local info and conditions:

For those interested in the Whitehorse Open House, things have changed a bit this year. They are officially calling it an open house for the entire weekend (Fri-Sun), I think the idea was to spread out the crowd a bit, but probably also to hedge their bets on the weather. The cherished hot dogs will only be available on Saturday, but it's free coffee and donuts on Fri or Sunday. Based on prior years, if you actually want to find anything in your sizes to buy there you'll want to be there on Friday.

Bear Notch Road has officially opened this week. No idea what their conditions are as when I rode past it this week I assumed it was still closed. And Hurricane Mt road is still closed, due to open this coming Wednesday.

Rode across the Kank from Conway all the way to Woodsville on Wednesday (took a mental health vacation day) and there is still a little snow on the sides of the road, but only in the shadiest spots and nothing that drains runoff onto the road itself. Not all the frost heaves have laid down yet, especially on the east side of the pass. West of Woodstock, 112 is a bit bumpy till you reach Lost River, then it's pretty darned good. Being a weekday there was very little other traffic. Probably be pretty busy next weekend.

Do not under any circumstances attempt to ride an FJR down Rte 118 from Lost River down to Warren. I did that 2 weeks ago on the Vstrom and it is a complete mess. Seriously it was so rough that for the first time in my life on a paved road I got some arm pump going, and that was on the soft Vee suspension. You'd be miserable on an FJR.

Other than that, some of the roads they just repaved in the last year or two have been ravaged again this winter. But 153 is in decent FJR shape (as usual) and all the bigger roads are fine.

Have fun. Hope to see some of you at the Open House on Saturday.

 

[RossKean]

Long Range forecast for North Conway is looking pretty dismal. I think I will bail (again) for this year's open house. If you can believe Accuweather, there could be 3.5" of wet between Friday and Sunday AM. If this improves in a major way, I might change my mind at the last minute.

Edit - May 15. Still looking like a couple of inches of rain over the weekend.

 

[RossKean]

Crap!

All week they were calling for awful weather for Conway so I decided to stay home. Looks like they were wrong and I missed a good trip. Hope everyone had a great time!

 

[Fred W]

No, it was crappy yesterday. Didn't clear up north until after noon some time. I stayed home and painted walls.

 

[ionbeam]

Yesterday I spent the day taking apart someone else FJR. Today I'm going to put it back together. Yesterday morning it was fine, in the rain. Today the sun is shining, oh well. Long range weather planning in New England means looking out to the future not more than 12 hrs.

 

[RossKean]

I don't feel so badly about it now. I was looking at the weather today (here and Conway) and it looked like the rain was over in NH and just getting well underway here. I managed a pretty good ride in southern NB on Saturday - 300 miles of potholes and frost heaves but it was a great day for weather. Looking forward to a couple of days in NH and VT if we can manage some decent weather at a time when I am able to get away.

 

[Canadian FJR]

I just checked their website and no open house this year.

I hope it was just an April fools joke.

Canadian FJR

 

[ionbeam]

Whitehorse Gear (formerly known as Whitehorse Press)

Traditionally, Whitehorse Gear has hosted an Open House in May as our way of celebrating the beginning of the New England riding season. Over the years, attendance at our Open House has grown by leaps and bounds, but our parking lot and warehouse have not. As a result, we have found it more and more difficult to show our visitors the personal, attentive service for which we are widely known. So that we can continue to provide high quality service, we will NOT host a large weekend event in May this year, but instead we will offer prizes, gifts, discounts, and light refreshments throughout the summer to customers who visit our warehouse store. We welcome visitors at any time of the year, but the warmer months provide a good excuse to sample the excellent riding in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and of course to visit Whitehorse Gear. We look forward to seeing you this summer. Watch your email and mailbox for occasional announcements and special offers.

I can attest to the crowding interfering with the parking and especially the shopping.